During the mid 1970s the sport of archery underwent a radical change in equipment design. The traditional archery equipment comprising wooden or laminated wood long bows and recurved bows was gradually replaced by compound bows in essentially all disciplines of the sport. Compound bows, as generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,492 (Savage), consist of an elongated riser defining a hand grip and supporting a pair of extending flexible limbs on either end. Wheels, cams, or combinations thereof are located at the ends of the limbs. Tuning cables attached to these wheels and/or cams and the bowstring act in concert to produce a much enhanced mechanical advantage when compared to the traditional archery equipment. Moreover, unlike the traditional bow, when the compound bow is drawn, the maximum force required to draw the bow is applied initially, and, as the bow reaches full draw, the force demanded to keep the bow drawn is reduced significantly. This mechanical advantage thus enables the archer to apply less force holding the bow, thereby giving the archer more time and increased steadiness in aiming.
Various types of arrows have been used in both traditional and compound bows. Whereas cedarwood shafts equipped with feather fletchings have been used in the past to assemble arrows, modern arrows are most commonly fabricated of tubular aluminum or carbon fiber shafts equipped with plastic fletchings. Arrow fletchings may be of varying size and are cemented to the shaft of the arrow on a slight angle or may be helixed about the shaft to impart a spin to the shaft, thereby improving the flight characteristics of the arrow. Normally, the fletching comprises three vanes, although fletchings of four and more vanes are available.
In hunting, 3D archery, and field archery, accuracy is of paramount importance. The presence of the arrow rest plays a very significant role in achieving the described accuracy in shooting. There are at least three factors in the operation of a compound bow which may be affected by the presence of the arrow rest. First, the trajectory of the arrow can be altered when the fletching of the arrow contacts the rest. Second, because all arrows are sized to bend slightly under the instantaneous load applied to the shaft upon release, the trajectory of the arrow can be altered by its deflection against the rest. Third, during release of the arrow, the archer may subject the bow to some inadvertent horizontal or vertical movement that is transferred to the rest and thence to the arrow, thereby causing the trajectory of the arrow to be altered.
Accordingly, there has been a great need for an improved arrow rest that virtually eliminates the unpredictable and undesirable deflection of an arrow due to contact with the fletching thereof, or that resulting from bending of the arrow upon loading, or that resulting from an unintentional movement of the archer during shooting.
To counter the problems associated with arrow rest deflection, particularly those resulting from contact with arrow fletchings, various assemblies have been devised, most of which have involved flexible or moveable arrow rests designed to give way from the arrow's path as the fletchings overtake or contact the rest. In addition to U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,492, supra, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,504,659, 4,071,044, 4,287,868, 4,453,528, 4,658,439, 4,803,971, 5,161,574, 5,365,912, 5,394,858, and 5,415,154 are illustrative of the many proposed solutions to the problem. None of those proposals, however, has found more than minimal acceptance in the archery art because of their unreliable performance and, frequently, because of their complexity of design with multitudinous components.
A device known as an overdraw is frequently attached to a compound bow to allow the use of shorter, stiffer, and lighter arrows which fly faster and farther with a flatter trajectory than a standard arrow. Typically, the overdraw is mounted to the bow by bolting it to the arrow rest mounting hole in the bow riser. The arrow rest bracket is thereafter positioned on the rearward end of the overdraw and the rest then attached to the bracket. The principal purpose of the overdraw is to extend the shelf of the bow riser toward the bowstring, thereby permitting the use of shorter arrows. A secondary feature of the overdraw is the upturned side plate which prevents the arrow from falling off the overdraw shelf prior to and during release of the arrow with possible consequent injury to the archer.
Whereas the overdraw prevents the arrow from falling from the overdraw shelf, it does not prevent the arrow from falling off the arrow rest. If the arrow falls from the arrow rest due to tilting of the bow, which is often the case in bow hunting and 3D archery, the bow must be relaxed, the arrow repositioned, and the bow redrawn. Accordingly, there is the need for an archer, especially when hunting, to have means for keeping the bow and arrow at the ready at all times. That is, the hunter must have means for keeping the fletching end of the arrow nocked against the bow string, and at the same time, have means for holding the head end of the arrow on the arrow rest while pursuing the hunt. Some arrow holding devices are commercially available, but they frequently do not work properly with common spring loaded arrow rests. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,038,960 and 4,407,261 are illustrative of such arrow lock devices.
Therefore, there has existed a continuing need for an improved arrow rest assembly which provides a relatively secure rest for the arrow shaft, and which spontaneously falls away as the arrow is released from the bow string, thereby resulting in minimal contact between the arrow and the rest as the arrow is launched from the bow.